MISSA, in the church of Rome, the office of prayers used at the
celebration of the eucharist; or, in other words, the consecrating the
bread and wine so that it is transubstantiated into the body and blood
of Christ, and offer them as an expiatory sacrifice for the quick and
the dead. Nicod, after Baronius, observes that the word comes from the
Hebrew _missach_, (_oblatum_,) or from the Latin _missa missorum_;
because in former times the catechumens and excommunicated were sent out
of the church, when the deacons said, _Ite, missa est_,” after sermon
and reading of the epistle and Gospel; they not being allowed to assist
at the consecration. Menage derives the word from _missio_, dismissing;”
others, from _missa_, sending;” because in the mass the prayers of men
on earth are sent up to heaven.
As the mass is in general believed to be a representation of the passion
of our blessed Saviour, so every action of the priest, and every
particular part of the service, are supposed to allude to the particular
circumstances of his passion and death. The general division of masses
is into high and low mass. The first is that sung by the choristers, and
celebrated with the assistance of a deacon and sub-deacon: low masses
are those in which the prayers are barely rehearsed without singing.
There are a great number of different or occasional masses in the Romish
church, many of which have nothing peculiar but the name. Such are the
masses of the saints: that of St. Mary of the Snow, celebrated on the
fifth of August; that of St. Margaret, patroness of lying-in women; that
at the feast of St. John the Baptist, at which are said three masses;
that of the Innocents, at which the _Gloria in excelsis_ and Hallelujah
are omitted; and, it being a day of mourning, the altar is of a violet
colour. As to ordinary masses, some are said for the dead, and, as is
supposed, contribute to extricate the soul out of purgatory. At these
masses the altar is put in mourning, and the only decorations are a
cross in the middle of six yellow wax lights; the dress of the
celebrant, and the very mass book, are black; many parts of the office
are omitted, and the people are dismissed without the benediction. If
the mass be said for a person distinguished by his rank or virtues, it
is followed with a funeral oration; they erect a _chapelle ardente_,
that is, a representation of the deceased, with branches and tapers of
yellow wax, either in the middle of the church, or near the deceased’s
tomb, where the priest pronounces a solemn absolution of the deceased.
There are likewise private masses said for stolen or strayed goods or
cattle, for health, for travellers, &c, which go under the name of
votive masses. There is still a farther distinction of masses,
denominated from the countries in which they were used: thus the Gothic
mass, or _missa mosarabum_, is that used among the Goths when they were
masters of Spain, and which is still observed at Toledo and Salamanca;
the Ambrosian mass is that composed by St. Ambrose, and used only at
Milan, of which city he was bishop; the Gallic mass, used by the ancient
Gauls; and the Roman mass, used by almost all the churches in the Roman
communion.
celebration of the eucharist; or, in other words, the consecrating the
bread and wine so that it is transubstantiated into the body and blood
of Christ, and offer them as an expiatory sacrifice for the quick and
the dead. Nicod, after Baronius, observes that the word comes from the
Hebrew _missach_, (_oblatum_,) or from the Latin _missa missorum_;
because in former times the catechumens and excommunicated were sent out
of the church, when the deacons said, _Ite, missa est_,” after sermon
and reading of the epistle and Gospel; they not being allowed to assist
at the consecration. Menage derives the word from _missio_, dismissing;”
others, from _missa_, sending;” because in the mass the prayers of men
on earth are sent up to heaven.
As the mass is in general believed to be a representation of the passion
of our blessed Saviour, so every action of the priest, and every
particular part of the service, are supposed to allude to the particular
circumstances of his passion and death. The general division of masses
is into high and low mass. The first is that sung by the choristers, and
celebrated with the assistance of a deacon and sub-deacon: low masses
are those in which the prayers are barely rehearsed without singing.
There are a great number of different or occasional masses in the Romish
church, many of which have nothing peculiar but the name. Such are the
masses of the saints: that of St. Mary of the Snow, celebrated on the
fifth of August; that of St. Margaret, patroness of lying-in women; that
at the feast of St. John the Baptist, at which are said three masses;
that of the Innocents, at which the _Gloria in excelsis_ and Hallelujah
are omitted; and, it being a day of mourning, the altar is of a violet
colour. As to ordinary masses, some are said for the dead, and, as is
supposed, contribute to extricate the soul out of purgatory. At these
masses the altar is put in mourning, and the only decorations are a
cross in the middle of six yellow wax lights; the dress of the
celebrant, and the very mass book, are black; many parts of the office
are omitted, and the people are dismissed without the benediction. If
the mass be said for a person distinguished by his rank or virtues, it
is followed with a funeral oration; they erect a _chapelle ardente_,
that is, a representation of the deceased, with branches and tapers of
yellow wax, either in the middle of the church, or near the deceased’s
tomb, where the priest pronounces a solemn absolution of the deceased.
There are likewise private masses said for stolen or strayed goods or
cattle, for health, for travellers, &c, which go under the name of
votive masses. There is still a farther distinction of masses,
denominated from the countries in which they were used: thus the Gothic
mass, or _missa mosarabum_, is that used among the Goths when they were
masters of Spain, and which is still observed at Toledo and Salamanca;
the Ambrosian mass is that composed by St. Ambrose, and used only at
Milan, of which city he was bishop; the Gallic mass, used by the ancient
Gauls; and the Roman mass, used by almost all the churches in the Roman
communion.